We are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Robert (Rob) Hughes as the new FAI Senior Sports Manager. He will join the FAI Office in Lausanne on 1 March 2012.

Following Jean-Marc Badan’s promotion to FAI Secretary General and as announced last October during the FAI General Conference, a recruitment process has been conducted to fill the position of FAI Senior Sports Manager.

Conducted by the FAI Secretary General together with Executive Director Beat Neuenschwander, a total of 19 potential candidates have been considered. After a first evaluation round, 4 very valuable candidates have been invited to personal interviews before a decision was made in December.

Jean-Marc Badan said, “Rob will be a great addition to the FAI Team. I remember his previous involvement at FAI, in particular within the World Air Games 2009 project, and I am confident that his solid experience and deep knowledge of the FAI will be very valuable for the further development of our air sports. I look forward to working closely with him.”

Rob Hughes, 41, has been active in air sports for more than 10 years, including as FAI Event Director, Assistant Competition Director, Jury President, Jury Member and Steward. Rob has served as CIMA Secretary and Rules Editor as well as Chairman of the British Microlight Aircraft Association in the UK. He graduated with an honours degree in Business and is fluent in French and German. He worked previously as Project and Event Manager in Construction and also Hospitality and expects to draw on his experience in his new role. Some of you may recall that he worked for FAI in 2008/09 as General Projects Manager before moving back to the UK to live with Carolyn, whom he married in 2011.

On being told the news of his appointment, Rob said: “I am delighted to be given the opportunity to work with FAI again and relish the challenges that face us as we evolve. This is an exciting time for FAI and I look forward to working with Jean-Marc and the whole FAI family to promote and encourage participation in air sports.”